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Re: Need Help with my 24 month old Breastfeeding Toddler

I would also like to add that as an example, my DS would not eat dinner last night, he picked at it a little and the told me he was all done. It was a meal that he normally loves!!! It might have been his mood, it might have been the day, who knows?? but he nursed, so I have no concerns about him not eating that.

It's hard when people you love and trust give you advice and you want to listen, but at some point you have to make the decision for yourself and your LO. Do your own research and just keep offering your DD a good diet. Your doing good momma, trust your instincts

FT working momma to a 9/11/10 busy boy and 11/13/12 happy little man.
Also wife to hubs since 8/23/08, bonus momma to H (girl) -99 and G (boy)-03

Re: Need Help with my 24 month old Breastfeeding Toddler

I am going to come in on the other side of this and tell you that while I agree weaning is NOT the answer, I also believe wholeheartedly that YOU CAN get your child to eat healthy food ONLY. By ONLY BUYING and SERVING healthy foods in your home. The idea that it's an either/or thing is BS and is perpetrated by having crap food in your house in the first place. I didn't wean my son until he was 4.5 years old. I also didn't give him ANY juice until after his 2nd B-day. And NO real sugar (except his B-day cake) until after his 3rd b-day. He didn't see a cereal bar until he was 4 and going to preschool with a packed lunch. And even now at 6 years old, no matter what else he gets (because he gets plenty of sugar now, please believe that) he still is getting 3-4 servings of fresh fruit and 1-2 servings of veggies. Every day. No exceptions. At two there was no way I would consider caving to a picky eater. I knew that eventually less than perfect food would work it's way in. In school especially with no way to heat food, your choices get limited. But when you are at home with your child it's easy. You shop the perimeter of the store. You bring home only real whole foods. You don't buy stuff in boxes. And this is what you MODEL day in and day out at your table. YOU eat the way you want her to eat. Now some children really do have texture aversions. But there are SOOOO MANY different kinds of fruits and berries and veggies you pin point this and work around it. One of the best ways to deal with a picky eater is lots of choices. Even when DJ was a baby, before he was a year old I always made sure to have at least 5 choices on his breakfast and lunch plates. So that way even if he is rejecting over half of it, he was still getting TWO GOOD things at every meal. We are animals. We are hard wired to survive. Your mother is right. If your child is hungry enough she will eat what's there. But only if her only choices are ALL healthy choices will that matter. My son at 6 fancies himself a VERY picky eater. But at night he's not trying to negotiate whether or not he eats what's on his plate. It's HOW MUCH he has to eat. HOW MUCH spinach or broccoli. And because I breastfed him I trust him to self regulate. So he gets to control how much he eats. But he is not waiting for me to pull hot dogs or mac and cheese out. Because that is nowhere on the negotiation block. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit. And if I am serving something I know you don't like (like Chard) I have back up veggies on stand by in the fridge that he can choose from. Usually it's carrots, cucumber or raw broccoli.
Set your house up so that all that comes into it is all good.
I know this can be challenging at first. I went round and round with my DH about him wanting to still be able to eat white bread and pasta and rice. Long story short- he got over it. Because you have to model it. But get on top of it now. Because YOU CAN CONTROL it. But once you are packing lunches....it gets harder. Don't wean. But don't cave to a picky eater either. Not in terms of the quality of food you are feeding.

Re: Need Help with my 24 month old Breastfeeding Toddler

Two things that I try to remember is that (1) a good serving for them is a lot smaller than what we think it should be and (2) they don't always eat evenly over three meals the way we are conditioned to do. A thing I saw a while back on toddler nutrition said to look at the amount of food eaten over 48 hours to decide how well a toddler is eating. It is our job as parents to provide our kiddos with healthy food; it is their responsibility to choose to eat an appropriate amount. Sometimes that will mean that they won't eat what we want them to eat. But if we continue to give them only healthy choices, eventually they will (usually) eat healthy.

Re: Need Help with my 24 month old Breastfeeding Toddler

I remember this issue well when son was 2, and in fact it is sometimes an issue now, he is 3 1/2.

I agree 100% with the others - weaning is not the solution, and least of all a guarantee she or he will start eating the foods you want her to eat.

The dipping also worked very well for us, to this day he will eat almost anythign if he can dip it. I most often give him water to dip. He is happy to dip food stuff in water - everything from vegetables to fruit to bread etc, even pasta. If he can dip he will eat it. It might look yucky to you but so what?

Also, when he was 2 I found that he will eat almost anything still if it is separated so I bought a plate with divisions (like for party food), and some small bowls. If it is not mixed he will eat one after the other, he ususally starts with whatever he likes best and if undisturbed (my husband sometimes tries to tell him what to eat in which order) eat his way through the plate, but never mixes anything, dipping it in his water.

We went through a phase when he would refuse his dinner on principle and then he would try and make it up by breast feeding. Not only did it drive me mad but also very sore, as it could not replace the meal but he wanted to suck until he felt full. Or he would then wake at 3AM and want his dinner then...
What helped us also was that I told him at about 2 1/2 that now he is bigger, his body needs more food variety than as a baby and that the breast was fine and available but that his tummy also needed other food as he was growing. Also I compromised and let him eat his pasta without sauce as he wanted to, giving him only water or organic juice to dip it in.